Piper

I have a 10 month old boy right now, learning to crawl and learning to throw the ball for Piper. I haven't forgotten our BC Piper, we still go on daily walks and she still gets lots of attention and is still my first child. As for trying to conceive...well I have no advice, we were lucky, at 34 it took us 3 weeks of trying and ta-da...I was pregnant! (my husband was hoping for more practice) . Thank god for effective birth control all those years! However, there are a lot of resources out there on fertility. We're now talking about child #3 (Piper was first, baby boy was second and now looking at adopting a Border Collie as the 3rd ). The other week we were a hour too late on adopting a BC that was at our shelter.

Our BC got my husband into Search and Rescue-Piper is a certified SAR dog. Me...I'm like Allie above, I walked, hiked, etc before I got Piper and now that we have her she keeps me company on my outing's. I still throw like a girl...thank goodness for the chuckit!

I've never been on the same level as Piper...I've always been the mamma dog . I giveth and I can taketh away... As for the OP question, Piper has always had that crouch when playing and she's never been around sheep or anything like that...so maybe it's natural for them to do that....not an expert here tho.

Like the above poster, I can't believe I'm posting a reply to this topic. I've been away from the boards from awhile, since I had a baby in October, and I take a peek every now and then and this topic (sorry, but it does) cracks me up. I've never given it much thought. I consider myself to be fairly modest but again have never given it a thought if my animals saw me naked...and I have a cat that sits in my tub while I shower and when I go to the bathroom Piper comes in and licks my leg sometimes. When I was pregnant and be out on walks I would have to go at least once and Piper (off-leash) always thought I was squatting for her, she'd bring me her fribee while I was doing my business and lay in wait for me to throw it... And, INU, she's never peed on my pee as she does with everything else...I figured it was because she knew I was boss. Thanks for the chuckle's...now back to the seriousness of this topic

Hey all-I've been lurking on this topic. I usually don't have much to say on topic's like this because I know there are a bunch of you out there (Rebecca, Vicki, etc that will usually respond a lot better than I can and have a lot mroe experience than I do-please keep up your postings when these topic's arise).

Funny I should read this now, my parents are up north right now outside Denali near Talkeetna and my mom called in a panic last night. One of her dogs was bitten badly by the mosquito's and her eyes were swollen shut, etc...and they didn't have any benedryl. Anyways, I forgot about the original thread-I'm going to share that with them. I heard the bugs were really bad up north this year Tuuli, they're not that bad (yet) here in SE Alaska.

Hey, chiming is here. Most canned salmon is wild and is pink salmon...not a salmon I would eat myself if you paid me, but one dogs/cats love... Also, just on my soapbox, eating wild salmon IS better for you, and it also supports the fishermen who caught it, farmed salmon I've heard can be high in mercury (or lead) and isn't any better for you than eating steak (I think someone wrote that above). I like salmon and luckily I live in an area where I never have to buy it, but I also NEVER order it in a restaurant unless I know for sure it is wild and even then I question it. If you like salmon and eat it regulary, make sure/ask if it is wild. If the package isn't marked and/or the waitperson has no clue, chances are it is farmed. Remember, friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon.

I'll let someone else answer that one, but I was told usually that when a puppy licks an older dogs mouth that they (the puppy) is showing respect. Who really knows...

Hi Kristen, Piper did that as a puppy, but not too much, but enough for the older dog to say "that's enough". However, that is how Piper gets other dogs to play with her, she nips at their back legs and shoves her butt in their face. I usually just let it go. When she was a puppy and I could sense that the older dog was getting annoyed I would usually distract her with something else. Another fun thingto watch for is your pup licking the other/older dogs mouth, that is her way of saying you have my respect, I'm not worthy, I want to learn from you. Once I learned what that behavior was I always thought is was cool when I saw puppies doing it. Ditto-on what Vicki posted above, it does sounds like she is just being a typical BC bratty puppy and they usually grow out of it because the older dogs teach them that it isn't appropriate to do. Doggie socialization will help with that. Of course I'm not an expert by any means, just sharing my insight. Good luck and have fun, they do grow out of this phase.

This is a great thing to teach your dog to do. How I did it was put Piper in a down/stay, walk away 30+ feet and then call her to me, we did this a couple of times and then put her in another down/stay, half way to me I said "DOWN" (like I mean't it) and used handsignals. I don't use a clicker but rather hand signals because you (a dog) can see hand signals a field length away but not always a clicker. The first time, she went down and then oozed towards me, but the other times she did it, she did it right, no ooozing. I was pretty proud of myself, because usually it is the husband that trains her and I'm just the playmate

Ya know Ruth-that is exactly where she is looking, is the joint. We've wondering if she has pulled a tendon or something. I'll poke around some more tonight though...

I don't know the clinical definition, but my definition is a spot that a dog licks, licks and licks until it is raw...usually out of boredom. Well, thanks for the replies...I'll try and answer them. No ticks where I live, or anything like that. We've checked her paws too and nothing is in between the pads or anything. I did think about allergies, but there isn't any other signs, like weeping eyes, scratching etc. Oh and it happens in the middle of the night, not even early morning, because it now starts getting light around 5 a.m., so it is before then. She definitely gets a lot of attention from us... She is also a SAR dog so goes to weekly drills but didn't this week. Also, my husband used to take her down to the track before work and I think we need to start doing that again...now that spring is here. She is 3 1/2, but still a puppy. My gut opinion, is that she is being obsessive and there isn't anything there...

Hiya, First, like a good BC Board member I did use the search function on this topic but couldn't really find anything specific to my concern. The last two nights we've woken up to Piper licking the top of her front right paw, lick, lick, lick, lick. We've checked the paw and can't find anything wrong with it...so now am convinvced I am a bad mom. She didn't get that much of a walk on Tuesday, but last night she had a great hike for almost 2 hours after work and was tired last night...but again the licking. Can hotspots start that soon? Is it a hotspot? It is the only place she is licking. The hair isn't licked off, but in the past when she has cut herself she has licked spots raw so I know she has that OCD tendency. Any suggestions? am I a bad mom?

Hello. My name is Roz and I don't know what Rally-O is... :eek:

Brag away. That is awesome!

Alaska Airlines has a good policy on pets, in regards to their "Relax I'm on board too" sticker. I think they're the only airline that does this, or at least American Airlines doesn't. The other thing is bring along some wet wipes, paper towels for when you get to Seatac in case the pup messed in the kennel and needs some cleaning up. Also, put an article of clothing that has your scent on it in the kennel and that may help too. Hey, Alaska, I didn't know about that little park. I thought I had Seatac mapped out...good to know.

Way to go Jazzy!!! One time after Piper finished finding someone during a drill, my husband discovered he had lost his brand new Smith Slider sunglasses which I had given him for his b-day to replace his ones he had lost fishing....He gave Piper the "look for it" signal and off she went, about 15 minutes later she found his sunglasses in a puddle. Man-those dog's are smart!!!

Wow! what a tread. It's almost like a soap opera, but educational . from Eileen, We got Piper from a farm/breeder for $150, with papers (not that I cared) in upstate NY. Affordable puppies do exist in the Northeast. We did try the resuce route originally but we didn't have a fenced yard and so were not deemed good candidates.

I say don't worry. Our BC Piper I swear was anorexic when she was younger (she is only 3 now-so still young). She'd go a day without eating sometimes, just not a priority with her, and definitely not food /treat motivated. We used to worry about it but her gums would be fine, well hydrated and her coat looks great and then the next day it was as if she'd remember she was hungry and she'd eat. She still does it too. She'll never be a fat dog that's for sure. This past winter she finally started filling in a bit and is now 31 lbs soaking wet. As long as your BC is healthy I wouldn't worry.

Hand signals. Also you could work on putting her in a sit-stay and then walking away from her, when you're a good distance away, you can call her using your voice and hand signal and while she is half-way to you, put her in a down stay...this is very useful thing to learn if your BC ever needs to get into an emergency down position. Piper learned it almost immediately (except then she would ooze towards me on her belly ) so we worked on that too.

What is a CGC class....all I could come up with is Coast Guard Corrections, Collie Glass Catch...obviously Piper hasn't taken the CGC class....

I don't think Piper necessarily is fasting on purpose...she just forgets to eat sometimes, that's my theory anyways.

I've been considering going "RAW" for Piper and I know this topic has been discussed tons on the boards...so would be interested in seeing your (Rebecca) week-long recipe. I've started adding egg yolks when we have eggs, since hubby got his cholesterol checked (highly recommend doing that for yourself-not your dog). Piper already fasts, without me doing it to her, she sometimes will go a day without eating, always has and so the next day I have to add some yummies to her food, which usually means shredded pecoro-romano cheese (we get from my in-laws in upstate NY). Eating isn't a priority for her. I've tried adding the canned pumpkin and carrots to her daily kibble but she ate everything but the carrots and wanted nothing to do with the pumpkin. Also, can't remember who posted about some dogs not interested in rawhides, that is my girl, she could care less about them unless there is another dog around. Oh and right now she eats Nutro Wellness Lamb & Rice, but someone on our dog team just gave us a huge bag of Super Wellness - so will use that when she is done with Nutro. Most brands like that we have to order as they're not available here in town...my checked luggage sometimes is quite funny...appliances from Costco, 40 lbs of dog food...

I'm not stalking you, I'm stalking your BC's...my Piper could whip Tess back into shape and Piper also isn't a good "leash" dog either, so they could egg each other on while on leash...Fortunately, Piper is only on a leash about 5 months out of the year, when it is too dark to hike trails after work. Does she get along with cats? My parents are passing through Vancouver Island in April-they could pick her up and bring her to Sitka, she could sit between their two beagles...

Piper came from a working farm and since we don't have sheep here the next logical job for her was search and rescue . She's up for her Level 2 Wilderness test soon. I'd really like to rescue one next as I am a frequent BC rescue stalker on RDM's website and the Ravensgate one in Washington/Oregon (a stalker in a good way).